Vincent Brissette, Marina Saad, Devavrat Nene, Christine Van Winssen, Ange Boubacar Diouf, Marlise P Dos Santos, Robert Fahed, Célina Ducroux
{"title":"Progressive Thrombosis of a Dolicho-Basilar Artery and Fusiform Aneurysm Resulting in Diffuse Ischemic and Hemorrhagic Complications.","authors":"Vincent Brissette, Marina Saad, Devavrat Nene, Christine Van Winssen, Ange Boubacar Diouf, Marlise P Dos Santos, Robert Fahed, Célina Ducroux","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.51","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.51","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"164-165"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140860485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Career Outcomes Among Neurosurgery Resident Graduates in Canada: An Update.","authors":"Lior M Elkaim, Farbod Niazi, Michael K Tso","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.44","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.44","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Many Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) graduates in neurosurgery face significant challenges in finding full-time employment. The current study describes the career outcomes of neurosurgery residents from Canadian programs.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>All RCPSC neurosurgery graduates (<i>n</i> = 106) who completed their residency between 2015 and 2020 were included in this study. Baseline characteristics were determined for the entire cohort and then stratified by employment status. Several logistic regression models were used to identify predictors of full-time employment after residency.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Overall, 26.4% of neurosurgery graduates from 2015 to 2020 have been underemployed, defined as locum and clinical associate positions (6.6%), the pursuit of multiple fellowships (16%) and career change/nonsurgical career (3.8%). Only 52.0% of graduates were fully employed in Canada, with 30.2% appointed at academic institutions. Skull-base/open vascular (OR: 0.055, 95%CI [<0.01, 0.74]) and general neurosurgery (OR: 0.027, 95% CI [<0.01, 0.61]) fellowships were associated with underemployment. Advanced research degrees (master's or Ph.D.) and sex were not associated with full-time employment.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Over one-quarter of recent Canadian neurosurgery graduates were underemployed, and nearly half do not find employment in Canada. These results reflect a concerning reality for current and prospective neurosurgery graduates in Canada and will hopefully serve as a call to action for the Canadian neurosurgery community.</p>","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"95-101"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142569595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amy Y X Yu, Peter C Austin, Alison L Park, Jiming Fang, Michael D Hill, Noreen Kamal, Thalia S Field, Raed A Joundi, Sandra Peterson, Yinshan Zhao, Moira K Kapral
{"title":"Validation of the Passive Surveillance Stroke Severity Score in Three Canadian Provinces.","authors":"Amy Y X Yu, Peter C Austin, Alison L Park, Jiming Fang, Michael D Hill, Noreen Kamal, Thalia S Field, Raed A Joundi, Sandra Peterson, Yinshan Zhao, Moira K Kapral","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.36","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.36","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Stroke outcomes research requires risk-adjustment for stroke severity, but this measure is often unavailable. The Passive Surveillance Stroke SeVerity (PaSSV) score is an administrative data-based stroke severity measure that was developed in Ontario, Canada. We assessed the geographical and temporal external validity of PaSSV in British Columbia (BC), Nova Scotia (NS) and Ontario, Canada.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We used linked administrative data in each province to identify adult patients with ischemic stroke or intracerebral hemorrhage between 2014-2019 and calculated their PaSSV score. We used Cox proportional hazards models to evaluate the association between the PaSSV score and the hazard of death over 30 days and the cause-specific hazard of admission to long-term care over 365 days. We assessed the models' discriminative values using Uno's c-statistic, comparing models with versus without PaSSV.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We included 86,142 patients (<i>n</i> = 18,387 in BC, <i>n</i> = 65,082 in Ontario, <i>n</i> = 2,673 in NS). The mean and median PaSSV were similar across provinces. A higher PaSSV score, representing lower stroke severity, was associated with a lower hazard of death (hazard ratio and 95% confidence intervals 0.70 [0.68, 0.71] in BC, 0.69 [0.68, 0.69] in Ontario, 0.72 [0.68, 0.75] in NS) and admission to long-term care (0.77 [0.76, 0.79] in BC, 0.84 [0.83, 0.85] in Ontario, 0.86 [0.79, 0.93] in NS). Including PaSSV in the multivariable models increased the c-statistics compared to models without this variable.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>PaSSV has geographical and temporal validity, making it useful for risk-adjustment in stroke outcomes research, including in multi-jurisdiction analyses.</p>","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"53-58"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140041043","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Archana B Netto, Niveditha Chandrahasa, Sheril S Koshy, Arun B Taly
{"title":"Hyponatremia in Guillain-Barre Syndrome: A Review of Its Pathophysiology and Management.","authors":"Archana B Netto, Niveditha Chandrahasa, Sheril S Koshy, Arun B Taly","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.27","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.27","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS) is the commonest cause of acute polyradiculoneuropathy that requires hospitalization. Many of these patients experience systemic and disease-related complications during its course. Notable among them is hyponatremia. Though recognized for decades, the precise incidence, prevalence, and mechanism of hyponatremia in GBS are not well known. Hyponatremia in GBS patients is associated with more severe in-hospital disease course, prolonged hospitalization, higher mortality, increased costs, and a greater number of other complications in the hospital and worse functional status at 6 months and at 1 year. Though there are several reports of low sodium associated with GBS, many have not included the exact temporal relationship of sodium or its serial values during GBS thereby underestimating the exact incidence, prevalence, and magnitude of the problem. Early detection, close monitoring, and better understanding of the pathophysiology of hyponatremia have therapeutic implications. We review the complexities of the relationship between hyponatremia and GBS with regard to its pathophysiology and treatment.</p>","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"9-19"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139742824","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Christine Van Winssen, Andrea V Andrade, Danielle M Andrade, Jorge G Burneo, Sandrine de Ribaupierre, Elizabeth Donner, Ayman Hassan, George Ibrahim, Kevin C Jones, Lysa Boissé Lomax, Katherine Muir, Maryam N Nouri, Nikki Porter, Rajesh Ramachandrannair, Paul Raymond, James Rutka, Michelle J Shapiro, David A Steven, Darryl Swain, Taufik Valiante, Sharon Whiting, Robyn Whitney, Ivanna Yau, Tadeu A Fantaneanu
{"title":"Evaluating the Current State of Epilepsy Care in the Province of Ontario.","authors":"Christine Van Winssen, Andrea V Andrade, Danielle M Andrade, Jorge G Burneo, Sandrine de Ribaupierre, Elizabeth Donner, Ayman Hassan, George Ibrahim, Kevin C Jones, Lysa Boissé Lomax, Katherine Muir, Maryam N Nouri, Nikki Porter, Rajesh Ramachandrannair, Paul Raymond, James Rutka, Michelle J Shapiro, David A Steven, Darryl Swain, Taufik Valiante, Sharon Whiting, Robyn Whitney, Ivanna Yau, Tadeu A Fantaneanu","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.30","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.30","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>There are numerous challenges pertaining to epilepsy care across Ontario, including Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) bed pressures, surgical access and community supports. We sampled the current clinical, community and operational state of Ontario epilepsy centres and community epilepsy agencies post COVID-19 pandemic. A 44-item survey was distributed to all 11 district and regional adult and paediatric Ontario epilepsy centres. Qualitative responses were collected from community epilepsy agencies. Results revealed ongoing gaps in epilepsy care across Ontario, with EMU bed pressures and labour shortages being limiting factors. A clinical network advising the Ontario Ministry of Health will improve access to epilepsy care.</p>","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"132-134"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139998348","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Galit Kleiner, Farooq Ismail, Omar Khan, Christopher Pilieci, Linda Truong, Chris Boulias
{"title":"Survey of Canadian Physician Use of Botulinum Toxin A (BoNT-A) for Paratonia: Real World Insights.","authors":"Galit Kleiner, Farooq Ismail, Omar Khan, Christopher Pilieci, Linda Truong, Chris Boulias","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.46","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.46","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Paratonia is a form of hypertonia characterized by an inability to relax muscles in the setting of cognitive impairment. Paratonia results in pain, refusal of care, and caregiver burden. We sent surveys to 67 Canadian physiatrists and neurologists regarding their experience treating paratonia with botulinum toxin A (BoNT-A). Twenty-seven survey respondents were included in the analysis. Thirteen percent of survey respondents treating paratonia with BoNT-A reported a significant clinically relevant improvement; 74% endorsed a moderately clinically relevant improvement; 13% endorsed a slight clinically relevant improvement. Ninety percent of survey respondents endorsed significant barriers in treating paratonia with BoNT-A.</p>","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"141-144"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"140332351","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ava Mehdipour, Lizabeth Teshler, Vanina Dal Bello-Haas, Vanessa Bouchard, Ayse Kuspinar
{"title":"Translation of the Preference-Based Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Scale into French.","authors":"Ava Mehdipour, Lizabeth Teshler, Vanina Dal Bello-Haas, Vanessa Bouchard, Ayse Kuspinar","doi":"10.1017/cjn.2024.18","DOIUrl":"10.1017/cjn.2024.18","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The objective of this study was to translate the Preference-Based Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Scale to French-Canadian. After the scale underwent forward and back translations, the expert committee examined the translated versions and found minor grammatical errors and suggested idioms to be changed to better represent French-Canadian language. Cognitive debriefing interviews were carried out to assess the pre-final version for clarity, and minor changes were made. Consensus from the expert committee and people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis on the measure's clarity, word choice, and meaning were achieved, resulting in the final French version of the Preference-Based Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Scale.</p>","PeriodicalId":56134,"journal":{"name":"Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences","volume":" ","pages":"129-131"},"PeriodicalIF":2.9,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"139906970","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}